Name/Title
Histories, The Legend of Waupun or "Waubun."Description
The Legend of Waupun or "Waubun." Seymour Wilcox, the first white settler in Waupun, came here in 1838 at the suggestion of John Bannister, a surveyor from Green Bay. After having built a crude cabin on the banks of the Rock River near the North Madison Street bridge, Wilcox then brought his family here. He was accompanied by John Ackerman and Hiram Walker.
WIlcox first named the city Madrid, after his native village [New York State], but James Duane Doty, who was then a delegate to Congress from Wisconsin, named the post office Waubun. The carriers who brought the mail on horseback and the surveyors, were careless in spelling the name and it fell to be Waupun instead of "Waubun."
Waupun, or "Waubun" means the rising sun in the east, or dawn. A bit of Indian legend surrounds the name "Waubun."
"Waubun was the son of Mudjekeeuris. He was young and beautiful, and when he came from the east in the morning, his breath was fresh with the perfume of flowers and he painted the sky with streaks of crimson and gold. He woke the deer and called the hunters and chased the dark over hill and valley.
Waupun was lonely in the sky and although the birds sang to him and the rivers and forests shouted at his coming, he longed for a friend to be with him always. One day when a fog lay on the river, he looked towards the earth and saw a slender maiden walking along alone in the meadow. She was gathering water flags and bulrushes which grew along the margin of the river and her eyes were as blue as two blue lakes. Waubun loved the graceful maiden for she was alone on the earth and he was alone in the heaven. So he drew her to his bosom and changed her into a beautiful star and they are still found together in the easterly sky, Waubun and the Waubun Annung, the east wind and the morning star."